Refrigerator display case



July 21, 1936. s, BOHN Er AL 2,047,937

REFRIGERATOR v DI SPLAY CASE July 21, 1936. s. BOHN ET Al.

REFRIGERATOR DISPLAY CASE Fileduuly 2, 1955 July r21, 1936. s. BOHN Er Al.v

REFRIGERATOR DISPLAY CASE Filed July 2, 1955 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 Patented `Iuly 2K1, 1936 STATE PATENT yorties REFRIGERATOR DISPLAY CASE Samuel Bohn, Passaic, N. J.,.and Harold D. King,

Application July 2, 1935, Serial No. 29,454

8 Claims.

The invention relates to an improvement in sliding doors for display cases and cabinets and more especially to an improvement in sliding doors particularly adapted for refrigerator dis- 5 play cases or cabinets.

In the usual form of refrigerator display case access is had to the interior of the case through a rectangular opening in the rear side of the case provided with a pair of sliding doors, which l when they are in closed condition overlap each other at their inner ends. Eiorts have heretofore been made to construct these sliding doors and the cooperating parts of the sills of the casing in such A a way as to prevent ingress of the l -room air into the case and egress of cold air from the case. Th-ese prior efforts have not, however, been entirely satisfactory. It is moreover, occasionally necessary to remove the doors from the case. For this purpose means have been provided so that when the doors are in a certain position they may be lifted within the sill opening to clear the lower part of the doors from the bottom rail on which they slide so that the lower edges of the doors may be swung outwardly to clear the bottom rail, thereby permitting the doors to be moved downwardly out of contact with the upper rails.

' In order thatI the doors, as heretofore constructed, may be moved upwardly to clear the bottom rail, it is obvious that the upper rails and the corresponding grooves in the upper part of the doors must be of greater depth than the lower rails and grooves in order that the doors may be lifted high enough to clear the bottom rails.

Hence when the doors are-in operative position in the cases the upper edges of the doors are separated a considerable distance from the lower surfaces of the upper sills with the result that there is considerable leakage at this point. Moreover, the fact that the doors can b e removed from the cases by only an upward movement of the doors when they are in a certain position in the case and then by an inward or outward movement of the lower part of the door sometimes results in the doors being accidentally displaced. To keep the doors as heretofore constructed in position except when they are at the point at which they can be removed, either the door or the sill is provided with a block or boss and the other member is provided with a recess. As a result of this construction that part of the door distant from the block is capable of considerable vertical movement, thereby permitting a wobbling movement 55 of the door when it is slid to open and closed positions, and also resulting in leakage longitudinally past this portion of the door.

One object of the present invention is to produce a refrigerator display case and sliding door construction in which the joints between the slid- 5 ing doors and the sills of the case are substantially leak proof, the only space between the werking parts being such as is absolutely necessary r a sliding joint, whereby a minimum cf leakage takes place to and from 'the interior of the case. To 10 this end the upper part of the door and the upper sill are so constructed that the door is incapable of vertical movement, except for clearance to permit sliding movements of the door. To remove the doors in the present construction it is rst 15 necessary to swing the upper part of the `doors outwardly at a certain point and then move the doors upwardly so as to clear the iower rail. By means of this arrangement no accidental displacement of the doors from the case cantake 20 place. Other objects of the invention are the novel cooperating elements or parts which constitute the improved refrigerator display case and sliding door construction, which will be fully described hereinafter and particularly pointed out 25 in the appended claims.

in the accompanying drawings illustrating the preferred form of the invention, Fig. 1 is a front elevation of the rear side ei a display case showing two sliding doors with their cooperating sills, 30 the rest of the display oase being broken away; Fig. 2 is a longitudinal section of the parts shown in Fig. 1, looking toward the top end with the sliding doors removed; Fig. 3 is a longitudinal tion taken on the line 3-3 of Fig. looking in 35 Vthe direction of the arrows; Figs. 4, 5 and 6 are transverse sections taken on the line 4-4 of Fig. 1; Fig. 7 is a fragmentary cross sectiorl of the upper portion of the door. Fig. 4 shows the doors in normal operative position. Fig. '7 illustrates 40 the first step in removing a door from the case. Fig. 5 shows the position of the top door during the second step of removing it from the case, and Fig. 6 shows the position of the inner door during the second step of removing it from the case. Fig. 8 is an isometric view of the'top portion of a door, showing particularly the construction of the top edge thereof; Fig. 9 is an isometric view of the lower side of the top sill of the case with a portion of one of the end sills; and Fig. 10 is a section 50 taken along the line Ill-I0 of Fig. 8.

'I'he improved refrigerator display case and sliding door construction as illustrated in the drawings comprises the usual form of display 4case, the portions of which around the doors are 55 65 Y overlaps the surface 3I of the rail 2l, and the indicated at I2 and may be composed of any suitable material. 'I'he rear side of the case has a rectangular opening provided on its inner edges with an upper sill I3, a lower sill I4 and end easements or sills I5.' These sills are preferably composed of hard rubber, but may be composed of any suitable material. The sliding doors comprise a top or outer door I6 and a bottom or inner door I1. It will be noted by reference to Figs. 4, 5 and 6, that the upper and lower sills I3 and I4 are offset from each other, whereby the doors I6 and I1 occupy a slanting position.. as is usual in these constructions.

The lower sill I4 is provided with two longitudinally extending tongues or tracks I8 adapted to receive the grooves I9 cut in the lower edges of the doors. To eliminate friction the grooves I9 are providedwith rcller bearings 20 which ride on the top edges of the tracks I8. The outer edges of the sides or sashes II of the doors are grooved to fit over the tongues I9 located on the inner sides of the side sills I5 when either side edge of the doors is moved into contact with the side sills I5. The sliding door and sill structure thus far described is substantially as is usual in this art. The construction of the doors is as usual, the sashes may have a laminated wood or other form of interior 52 and are provided with the' double panels of glass 53..

The elements which constitute the improved sliding door and sill construction comprise the followingz--The upper sill I3 is provided with a l longitudinally-extending rail or track' 2'I stepshaped in cross section and having a bearing or sliding surface 22. The front edge of the upper outwardly during their sliding movements the rearedge of the-upper part of each door is provided with a boss or block 25, the front surface of which is adapted to cooperate with the rear surface 26 of a guard part 21 integral with the upper sill. The part 21 of the upper sill is located to the rear of the rail 2| and prevents outward movement ofthe upper part of the door, except when the latter is in a certain position. To permit the upper part of the door to swing outwardly when it is to be removed from the case the rear edge of the guard 21 is provided with a recess 29 with which the boss 25 is adapted` to register when the door is in a, certain position.

' The first step of removing the door from the refrigerator case, when the boss 25 is opposite the recess 2'9, is to pull the upper part of the door forwardly until the boss 25 is fully received in the recess 29. Thisinovement separates the slide portion 24 of the upper part of the door from the rail 2| as shown in Fig. '1. The door is then moved pwardlyuas shown in Figs. 5 and 6, until the ange 30 of the slide portion 24 of the door rail 2I is received in the groove 32 in the upper edge of the door. The recess 29 is of such depth as to permit the boss 25 to be moved up into it during the upward movement of the door.

The overlapping and cooperating track and slide or bearing parts of the upper sill and vthe upper part of the door are of such depth that whenthe door is moved upwardly, as just described, the groove in the lower edge of the door is freed from the tongue or track I 8. The door is now in condition for removal from the case by swinging the lower part of the door outwardly to clear the lower sillfwhereupon the upper part of the door may be freed from the upper sill by a 5 t downward movement. It will be understood that there is enough clearance in the cooperating parts of the upper sill and the upper part of the door to permit the swinging of the lower part of the door outwardly to clear the lower sill. 10 If only a single door were employed it would not be necessary to provide the upper sill and the upper part of the door with any ther elements than those described above, but since it is the universal practice to have at least a pair of slid- 15 ing doors, the present invention provides further elements for preventing leakage into and from the case. By referring to the left-hand portion of Fig. 9, wherein the rail on the upper sill for the upper part of the outer door is indicated generally 20 at 34, it will be noted that the rail for the upper part'of the inner door, designated generally at 35, is identical in construction with the rail for. the outer door. The rail proper 36 for the inner door corresponds to the rail 2l for the outer door, 25 the surface 31 of the inner rail corresponding to the surface 22 of the outer track, and the surface 38 .of the inner rail corresponding to the surface 3l of the outer rail. When the doors are in operative position they are separated only by a 30 space large enough to permit them to slide by each other without friction, as indicated in Fig. 4. To prevent as much as possible leakage at the point or track 36, the upper rear edge of the inner door is provided with an upwardly-extend- 35 ing ange 39 which overlaps the surface 3B of the inner track but does not contact therewith. It is on the inner face of the ange 39 that the boss or block 25 is mounted. It will be noted that the /flange 39 extends upwardly beyond the upper 40 edge of the flange 30 of the track or slide portion 24 of the outer door, and when the door is moved. upwardly during the removalthereof from the case the flange 39 is received in a recess 40 in the upper sill which-is deeper than the recess formed by the surface 3| and the surface 4I of the front portion of the sill; It will be obvious that this i ange 39 by overlapping the surface 38 of the inn'er track when the doors are in operative position prevents ingress of air into Athe space 43 (Fig. 4) between the outer track and the upper end of the outer door when they are in operative relation.

The construction of the upper end of the inner door is exactly the same as that of the upper end 55 of the outer door, even as the construction of the inner rail of the upper sill is identical with that of the outer rail of the upper sill, so that both ber and two hard rubber surfaces in sliding conc5 tact with each other gradually produce a black dust,whichvmay lnd its way into the interior of the case, the present construction eliminates this possibility `by providing the inner surfaces of the slide portion 24 of the upper part of the door 70 and the inner side of the slot I9 in the lower edges of the doors with bearings. These bearings are clearly indicated at 46 in Figs. v8 and 10. They are preferably composed of stainless steel or other similar material. The bearings 46. as 75- shown in Fig 8, project slightly below the inner surface 41 of the part 30 of the upper edge of the door so that there is no contact between the inner surface 41 of the part 30 andthe surface 22 of the rail.

In order to seal the joint between the inner sashes 48 of the doors when they are in closed position, as shown in Fig. l, the inner'rail portion of the upper sill is provided under the recess 49 therein (corresponding to the recess 29 with a boss 50 onto which the bearing 46 of the inner sash of the inner door rides when it is in closed position, so as to push the sash 48 of the inner door up into engagement with the sash 48 of the outer door. v

It will conduce to a clearer understanding of the operation of inserting the doors in the frame defined by the sills and removing them therefrom to recapitulate it briefly. Assuming that the doors are to be inserted in operative position in the sills, and having regard only to the-outer door (since the identical operation is performed with the inner door), the lrst step is to insert the upper end of the door into interacting relationship with the corresponding parts of the outer rail of the upper sill, as shown in Fig. 5, but with the lower part 'of the door clearing the lower sill. The second step is to swing the lower part of the door inwardly until the groove I9 inthe lower sash of the door is in alinement with the tongue or track I8 of the lower sill. The third step is to move the door downwardly until the tongue or. track I8 is fully received in the groove I9. The upper part of the door will then have the relationship to the outer rail of the upper sill shown in Fig. 7. The fourth and last step of the act of inserting the door into the opening dened by the sills is to swing the upper end of the door inwardly until the outer flange 30 of the slide portion of the upper part of the door contacts with the bearing surface 22 of the outer rail of the upper sill. The door is now free to be slid in either direction. 'I'he operation of removing the door from the frame defined by the sills is of course the reverse of inserting it therein. The rst step, after the boss has been brought into alinement with the recess 29, is to swing the upper part of thev door outwardly into the position shown in Fig. 7. The second step is to lift the door upwardly until the parts of the upper end of the door assume the position relatively to the parts of the outer rail of the upper sill shown lin Fig. 5. The third step is to swing the lower part of the door outwardly until it is free of the lower sill, and thefourth step is to move the door downwardly thereby completely removing it from the case. Y

Having thus described the invention, what -we claim as new is:-

1. In a display case of the character described including lower, upper and side sills dening a rectangular opening, a longitudinal track on the upper side'of the lower sill, and a longitudinal rail on the lower side of the upper sill, a door adapted to vslide longitudinally in the space defined by the sills, said door having on its. lower side a groove adapted toreceive loosely the track on the lower sill, .the upper part of the door having a slide portion adapted to contact with and slide on the rail on the upper sill, the upper sill being provided with a longitudinally-extending guard, a. boss mounted on the rear side of the upper part of the door adapted to. move parallelly with said guard so as to prevent the upper part of the door from being moved outwardly unless the door is in a certain position, said vguard having on its rear side a recess with which the boss on the door may be brought in alinement to permit the upper part of the door to be swung outwardly, said cooperating elements on the upper sill and the upper part of the door being of such depth as to permit the door when the boss is in the recess to be moved upwardly to raise the lower part of the door out of engagement with the track, whereby the lower part of the door may be swung outwardly to clear the track on the lower sill so that the door may then be moved downwardly to disengage it from the upper sill.

2. In a display case of the character described including lower and upper parallelly-arranged sills, a longitudinal track on the upper side of the lower sill and a longitudinal rail on the lower side of the upper sill, a door adapted to slide longitudinally on the track and the rail, the lower part of said door having a sliding engagement with the track on the lower sill, the upper part of` the door having a slide portion adapted ,to contact with and slide on the rail on the upper sill, said rail on the upper sill and the slide portion on thev upper part of the door being arranged when the door is inoperative position to prevent the door from moving upwardly far enough to disengagethe lower part of the door from the track on the lower sill, the upper sill being provided with' a longitudinally-extending guard located rearwardly of the rail thereon and having a recess in its rear side, a boss mounted on the rear side of the upper part of the door adapted to move parallelly with said guard on the rear side thereof so as to prevent the upper part of the door from being moved outwardly unless the boss is in register with the recess, said cooperating elements on the upper part of the door and the upper sill being of such depth that when the boss is in alinement with the recess and the upper part of the door is movedoutwardly the door may then be moved upwardly to free the lower part thereof from engagement with the track on the lower sill.

3. In a display case of the character described including lower and upper sills, a longitudinal track on the upper side of the lower sill and a longitudinal rail on the lower .side of the upper sill, a door, the lower part of said door being adapted to cooperate with and slide on the track, the upper part of the door having a slide portion adapted to cooperate with and slide on the rail on the upper sill, said rail being stepped. and said slide portion of the uppe' part of the door being stepped in reverse position adapted to cooperatewith the step of the rail, said rail having on its rear side a longitudinally-extending guard in the rear face of which is a recess, and a boss located on the rear edge of the upper part of the door adapted to cooperate with the guard to prevent the upper part of the door from being moved outwardly unless the boss is in alinement with the recess, said cooperating members on the upper sill and on the upper part of the door being of such depth that when the upper part of the door has been moved outwardly the door may then be lifted to disengage the lower part thereof from the track on the lower. sill so that the door may be removed from the case.

.4. In a display case of the character described including a lower sill having a longitudinal track on its upper side, an upper sill having a rail on its lower side composed of two steps, a door, the lower side of the door being adapted to slide longitudinally on the track on the lower sill, the upper part of the door having a two step slide portion in y the outward movement of the upper part of the the reverse position of the two steps of the rail on the upper sill.' said rail and said slide portion on the door having two cooperating sliding surfaces ,when the door is in normal position, saidv rail and said slide portion on the door preventing upward movement yof the door when the latteris in opera- 'tive position, means on the door and on the upper f sill including a boss and recess to prevent outward movement of the .upper part of the door except when the boss and recess are in alinement,

' the lower part of the door may be swung out-l wardly to 'disengage it from the track on the lower sill.

5. A display case comprising a sill structure i having upper, lower and side walls defining a vrectangular opening, two parallel tracks arranged along the upper side of the lower sill, an inner and an outer door having grooves adapted to loosely embrace said tracks to permit sliding movement thereon, two parallel rails extending longitudinally on the lower side of the upper sill, said rails beingY step-shaped in cross section, the forward edges of the top part of each door being provided with a step-shaped slide portion for engagement with said rails, the rear side of the upper edge of each door having a flange projecting upwardly beyond the step-shaped slide portions, a boss located on the front side of each flange, a longitudinally-extending guard located on the rear of each step-shaped rail adapted tov be engaged by the front side of a boss to prevent outward movement of the upper part of the doors, -said guards each having a recess which when it alines with its boss permits the upper part of the door to be swung forwardly, said upper sill having grooves adapted to receive the anges to permit theidoors to be lifted vertically to free the groove at th'lower parts thereof from the trackson the lower sill whereby the lower part of the doors 'may be swung outwardly and the doors dlsen ldoors from the' opening.

gaged from the upper sills by'a downward movement.

6. A display case having a door `opening includ-A ing upper, lower and side sills, and doors having a slidable interlocking mounting in the upper and lower sills, the slidable interlocking mounting being constructed and arranged whereby the doors may be rst slid longitudinally to a predetermined position, then swung outwardly at their upper ends and then moved upwardly to separate the lower interlocking connection to per-v mit the lower ends to be moved outwardly of the door opening forf subsequent complete removal of the door fromthe opening in a downward and outward direction of movement.

7. A display case having aV door opening including upper, lower and side sills, and doors'having a slidable interlocking mounting in the upper and lower sills, the slidable interlocking connection being constructed and arranged toprevent upward movement of the doors in the opening during normal sliding movements of the doors, and cooperating means carried by the upper sill and upper edges of the doors whereby at a predetermined point the doors may be partially moved -v outwardly at their upper ends and then moved upwardly to disengage the lower interlocking connection for the subsequent complete removal of the doorsfrom the opening. Y 8. A display case having a door opening including upper, lower and side sills, and doors having aslidable interlocking mounting in the upper and lower sills and being constructed and arranged to prevent upward movement of the doors in the opening, and cooperating lugs and recesses on the upper sill and upper edges of the doors adapted to be alined by. sliding movements of the doors whereby the upper ends of the doors may be st moved outwardly and then moved upwafrdly to discngage the lower interlocking conriction for subsequent complete removal of the SAMUEL BoHN. HAROLD D. KING.` 

